Learnings, Love, and Legacy
by Wesley Antion
Summary: Like every legend, James McCloud had to grow up too.
1. Section One Part One

"James McCloud, please come to the front of the class and give your speech now." A whiny, droning voice called out.

Faking reluctance, James stood up from his seat, glancing with mock nervousness at his classmates as he walked to the front of the room. He hated public speaking, which was why it was so fun. Gathering his papers in front of him he placed them on the podium, clearing his throat. "Honorable Judges, teacher, parents, and fellow students of Galactic Space Academy, today I am here to talk to you about why I want to be a pilot when I grow up." A collective groan went up from the class, causing the teacher to stare coldly at the unwilling audience._ Yes, it is working._

"Most of us want to have a life full of prosperity and adventure," James continued, doing his best to be monotone and boring. "Fittingly enough, we are blessed to have this glorious opportunity to go so Space Academy. It is here where we can learn the basic and important skills of space travel and how to apply them in our daily lives." Taking a deep breath, he slowly surveyed the audience. They were bored beyond belief, even the teacher, an old bloodhound and started to show signs of sleepiness.

He droned on, "One of the main reasons I would like to be a pilot is because of the danger involved. Some pilots can get bruises and scratches from intense training sessions. Sometimes even the training modules break down and leave an entire class OF IDIOTS without a teacher." Ears perked up around the room, wondering if they had just heard what they thought they had heard. James smirked to himself then continued, "It is because of this high risk profile that I would be excited to join the MORONS IN MY CLASS, in the Space Force." James laughed to himself as he watched nearly thirty pairs of ears perk up, then the corresponding faces twist with confusion. Not slowing he continued, "Now AS FOR MY TEACHER WHO IS A FAT LUMP OF FUR," the class laughed quietly, watching the old teacher snap out of a temporary lapse in concentration. "Another reason why being in the Space Force would be my dream job is the chance to be a hero." Everyone was listening now. "Being a hero would be awesome, because it would show that it doesn't take the best, strongest, smartest pilot to win, but the bravest. I think that I could go far becau-"

"JAMES MCCLOUD!" a loud deep voice interrupted. "You have a meeting with me right this very instant!"

James' eyes rolled back into underneath closed eyelids as he realized that he had been busted. "Yes Headmaster." he replied reverently, not wanting to bring anything else upon himself. Dropping his papers on the podium he slowly took the walk of shame to the doorway and out into the hall. He was confronted immediately by a large bristly hedgehog.

"James," Headmaster Jodge said sternly, "What sort of stunt were you trying to pull? I was listening in over the PA and I was quite disappointed to hear your comments."

James sighed deeply. He stared intently at the floor, mumbling as he spoke. "I was giving my speech sir, and no one was listening."

"Hate to say it, but get used to it James," Headmaster Jodge said with a lilt of laughter in his voice, "I don't want to seem like jerk, but really, people rarely listen to you in life."

"People listen to you." James countered.

"Do you know what I said over the announcements this morning?"

"Uh..." James felt his cheeks flush slightly with embarrassment realizing he had just proved his Headmaster's point.

"I thought not. That's ok, nothing important anyway." Headmaster Jodge assured. "But now for you're problem, sure your classmates aren't listening, but calling them and your teacher idiots is not necessary."

"But it is the only way that they would listen." James replied, whining slightly. "No one ever takes me seriously. I either have to be completely solemn and boring all the time and be used to it, or I do something funny to catch their attention."

"Not necessarily." Headmaster Jodge rebuked, "If you make your speech genuinely interesting, then people will listen no matter what happens. Sure they may listen to someone who is more popular than you, but honestly, deep down they just want to hear an interesting speech topic. Whether it is funny or just plain amazing."

"But my speech was good. My mom said she loved it." James replied weakly, knowing he was losing the battle.

"Parents tend to be...uh..how do I say this nicely..." Headmaster Jodge thought deeply searching for a word.

"Biased." James stated.

"I thinking a little nicer than that. More like, 'proud of their child.'" Jodge added with a small laugh. James laughed too.

A silence fell over the two, then James spoke, "So, am I in trouble?"

"James," Jodge sighed, "I know you aren't a trouble maker, and I now that I know you're motives, I see no real reason to punish you. Just go finish your speech."

"Ok, thank you sir." James replied gratuitously.

"You're welcome."

James opened the door to his classroom and walked in pulling the door behind him quietly. "What was that about?" his teacher asked.

"Oh, Headmaster Jodge was just wondering if I had been listening to the announcements." James replied quickly. "May I finish my speech?"

The teacher looked puzzled for a moment then gave a quick, forced, "Yes."

"Thank you." James replied.

Restarting his speech, he watched with eager eyes as his crowd paid rapt attention, hoping for another outburst. He grimaced slightly as he watched boredom slip over the faces of his peers. Swallowing his pride, he continued to speak until the last words rolled off his tongue. "So one day, I can fly to the stars and never have to come back."

A light applause rippled through the room. Walking down the aisle to his seat James sighed deeply, pondering Headmaster Jodge's words. _Make it something truly interesting._ Sitting down with a whump, James closed his eyes and drifted off into his imagination, envisioning himself flying through deep space, tumbling, shooting, and being the hero. His teacher's voice snapped him out of his fantasy, "Ok, next student..."

James slumped down into his seat and pretended to listen, but didn't do a very good job. He folded his paws across his chest, breathing deeply as he did. The next speaker was boring, and the next, and they next. Soon, the entire class had finished, and the teacher dismissed them. The classroom spilled out into the hallway, rushing through the crooked hallways, following them until they were at their destination.

James slowly dragged his finger across the biometric scanner on his locker. Why the school had such advanced technology for such menial tasks James had no idea. Swinging open the door, he tossed his books into his locker. They banged and bounced, one landing on the floor. Growling with fake frustration, he kicked the book, then picked it up and tossed it into his locker. He scanned the hallway; he was the only one there. James reached into his pocket and grabbed a few small coins. He shuffled through them, sorting until he found enough to buy his lunch. He began to walk down the hallway to the cafeteria, then quickly turned around and closed his locker, then continued on to the lunch room.

The noisy, crowded cafeteria was only another stop on James' daily routine. He bought, sat, and then ate, not really noticing much around him. He talked to a couple of friends about the speeches, and about classes. Nothing much came of the lunch hour, until just before the bell rang.

"James?" A feminine voice called out from behind James as he opened his locker.

"Uh, ya?" He replied, turning to show that he was somewhat paying attention.

"James McCloud right?" the voice asked again.

"Uh, ya." he replied again, turning back to his locker and ignoring the person.

"You were the kid who pulled the stunt during speeches today, right?"

"Uh, yeah," James replied, feeling his cheeks go red. "Why do you car- ask?"

"Oh, I was just wondering." the voice continued, "you know, just trying to make conversation."

"Ok." James agreed, finished with his books, "I have to go to class now."

"Um, ok then. Bye." the voice finished.

James grunted and shrugged his shoulders, turning his back on the voice as he walked further away. He rounded the corner to go down the next hallway to his Physical Education block and stopped. Falling backwards a couple of inches, he let his head hit the wall. _Dang! Why am I so bad at this!_ He closed his eyes and sighed._ Do I have ANY social skills? Or am I just that awkward?_ One of his friends walked up to him.

"Hey James, hurry up, or you'll be late for class."

"I doubt it. Mr. Kinsley never shows up to class on time."

"Yeah, you're right." his friend replied.

"Haha," James laughed, indicating he had a funny story, "Like that one time when we spent the entire block sitting around doing nothing till the last five minutes when he came back with lipstick marks on his collar."

They both laughed, remembering the moment. Then they both looked at each other and if on cue shuddered at the thought of Mr. Kinsley, "Eww."

"Well, I'm going to class now." James' friend said as he walked away from James.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a sec," James replied.

As soon as his friend was out of view, he let his head smack into the wall again. He sighed deeply._ Grrr, it IS only females! Uh, why am I so awkward? Maybe if..._ James' thoughts consumed him as he continued on to gym class.


	2. Section One Part Two

Pheet! A whistle sounded loudly, echoing through the vast expanse of the gymnasium. "All right class, times up. Hit the showers." the P.E. teacher yelled.

The all male class quickly put their rackets into the appropriate shelves, and then jogged off to the change room. James followed suit, taking off his shirt as he went through the door way. He went over to his locker and grabbed his towel and soap, then headed to the showers. As disgusting as he thought it was, nearly half the class didn't shower after the intense workout.

Twisting the shower knob, hot water began to spray out of the nozzle, dousing James. He closed his eyes and let the water run from his snout to his tail, soaking him thoroughly. After he was completely wet, he lathered up some soap and began to clean himself. Other members of his gym class filtered into the shower. They all claimed their individual showers and routinely cleaned themselves. James wasn't particularly self-conscious, but he still shielded himself slightly maintaining as much privacy as could be offered in a public shower.

Finished with his shower, he walked out and grabbed his towel. He began to dry himself off, ruffling his fur as he did. With his back turned to the passing crowd of non-shower-ers, he finished drying off and pulled on his boxers. Towel in hand, he walked back into the changing area and got dressed. He gathered the rest of his belongings and shoved them into his gym locker, then headed off to his locker to end the day.

James stopped outside the gym doors to get a quick drink of water. He slurped from the stream of lukewarm water, forcing himself to swallow the tepid liquid. Standing up and wiping his mouth, James turned to see the girl who had tried to talk to him earlier. She didn't notice him, and then she shifted her gaze and looked him in the eyes. James dropped his gaze immediately. _Frick! Now she thinks I've been staring at her!_ He quickly began to take a second drink. He glanced over his shoulder to see that she had left. Gathering up his courage, he began to quickly walk down the hallway, desperately trying to avoid contact.

He arrived at his locker and opened it. _Why can't I just be normal?!_ Sorting through his books, James picked out the ones which he needed for homework, then placed them in his backpack. He walked to the entrance of the school and jumped into his mothers awaiting groundcar, then lazily watched the school drift away as they drove home.

"So, how was your day today?" His mother asked.

"Ok, nothing exciting." James replied generically.

"Mmhmm, how did your speech go?"

"Oh, nothing special. It was a boring day. Again." James lied.

The interior of the small vehicle fell silent, only the faint hum of the engine running breaking the silence. The vehicle slowed, and pulled into another drive through. James' two younger sisters jumped into the back seat. "Hey mom." they said in unison.

"Hi girls, how were your days?"

"It was great." James' youngest sister Chloe quickly replied. "I got to make a fun craft today in art. See?" she asked, thrusting a pink frilly paper doll in her mother's face.

"Oh, how pretty is that?" James' mom exclaimed. "You must have worked very hard on that."

"U-huh!" excitedly agreed Chloe.

"I had a good day too." Interjected the middle child, Savanna.

"Really? What made it so good?" asked James' mother.

"Well, the spring banquet is coming up..." her voice trailed off as she began to blush.

"Aww!" her mother gasped. "Did my little girl get asked to the banquet?"

"Yeah." Savanna replied with pride and embarrassment at the same time.

"Really?" asked Chloe immediately.

"Yes." reassured Savanna.

"What dress are you gonna wear? Are you gonna get a new pretty one? Pink maybe?" Chloe exploded with questions. Everyone in the vehicle laughed at her childish antics.

The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful. James told his sisters stories about gym class when someone got hit in the face during dodge ball. Chloe showed immediate concern while Savanna just laughed with James. Soon, Mom pulled the groundcar into the garage at their house and all four jumped out and went inside.

James immediately went downstairs to his room. He flopped down onto his bed. Sitting up, he pulled his homework from his backpack and began to destroy and conquer immediately. He finished quickly, seeing that there were only a few questions left.

Meandering up the stairs to the kitchen, James grabbed himself a snack. Muching happily he stepped out onto the balcony. The sun shone brightly, giving all of his surroundings a glow. Leaning back in a lawn chair James slowly surveyed the view. The middle class neighborhood was a nice place. Purple and yellow begonias smiled at the sun, releasing a beautiful fragrance. The large red-maple tree in his front yard partially blocked the sun, framing the dark red leaves in a halo of orange. A few leaves lay fallen at the base of the tree. Autumn was beginning to set in, and these last glorious days of summer were not to be forgotten for a long time.

James stretched out on the chair yawning as he did. He stared off into the light blue sky which extended for miles above his head. Small white threads of jet streams haphazardly divided the sky into uneven sectors. James breathed deeply, and felt the sun stroke and warm his red fur. He closed his eyes and sighed, envisioning the female he had done his best to avoid at school.

_Why am I so awkward around her? I seem to be just fine around all my guy friends, and most of the girls in my other classes. Heck, I have known her since grade one. Why is it so awkward then? I know I don't like her. Or do I? No. Yes. Maybe? Grr. Maybe I should ask her to the spring banquet._

_But what if she says no?_

_It isn't like she has other guys asking her out all the time._

_Or does she?_

_What if I ask, and she just says, "Sorry, I already have a boyfriend?"_

_But what if she doesn't?_

_Does she? She could. But if she doesn't, then..._

_Should I? No. Yes. Maybe?_

_No. I need to. I'm never gonna get a chance again. _

_But what if her talking to me has nothing to do with me and her? What if she was just asking about my stunt in class today? Haha, that was funny. But stupid. Which is what made it funny._

_No, back to the important stuff. Do I ask her to the banquet? YES. I will. I have to. What to say? "Lexi, would you go to the Spring Banquet with me?" No. Sounds too lame. Something more heroic? "Lexi, would you do me the great favor of accompanying me to the Spring Banquet?" Too academic. Maybe I'll just go. Fly by the seat of my pants. Find a good time, the go for it. Yeah, I'll do that. It has to work._

_But what if she says no?_

_She won't._

_But..._

_No. I'm going to ask. What is the worst that could happen._

_She would say no._

_That's not that bad._

_In front of all my friends?_

_No, I won't ask her there._

_Where?_

_I dunno. Somewhere away from my friends._

_Stalker._

_NO!_

_You sure sound like a creeper, thinking about her all this time._

_I'm not thinking about her._

_Really?_

_No. Just about how to ask her out._

_Her._

"James dinner!" his mom called from kitchen.

James sat upright immediately. Had he really been out on the deck for that long? He looked out to see the sun beginning to slink behind the horizon. It was 6:30 on his watch. "Dang. Two hours thinking." James muttered to himself as he walked in to eat dinner.

"Hey James, why were you on the deck for so long?" Chloe asked innocently.

"Nothing. Just enjoying the sun. That's all." James quickly fabricated.

"You could do that for that long?" Chloe asked incredulously, "I think that you were doing some-"

"Chloe, that will be enough." James' mother cut off. "Your father should be home soon. But I don't think he would mind if we started without him. Let's eat."

"Mom, can I eat on the couch and watch the news please?" Chloe asked. "I need to for my homework in social studies."

James' mother sighed, frustrated, but knowing that she shouldn't discourage her daughter to do homework. "Ok, but only this one time. Besides, the news is nearly over now."

"Thanks mommy." Chloe replied happily as she walked over to the TV. Balancing her plate carefully she turned on the TV and set the channel.

James, Savanna, and their mother ate dinner quietly, listening to the calm voice of the news anchor. James chewed thoughtfully on a stalk of broccoli, ignoring the displeasing flavor of the vegetable. He looked across the table at Savanna. She played with her food, pushing it around on her plate. James sighed with pride. His sister was beautiful. Slim and dainty, Savanna had gorgeous thick red fur. The same that James did, but somehow, it looked far better on her than it did on him. Her face was perfectly symmetrical. She had deep chocolate eyes, which burned with a passion for life. Every now and then, James would see her eyes sparkle with mirth as she laughed freely. She was everything that he wasn't, and yet he wasn't jealous. Just proud that he was her brother. And that she was his sister.

"Mommy!" Chloe's voice broke the silence.

"What honey?" Mom replied.

"Daddy's car is on the news." Chloe answered.

Within seconds, the entire family was surrounding the TV. "Breaking News, a fourteen groundcar pileup has stopped traffic all together on highway four out of Corneria city. So far there are no known casualties, but ground crews are only arriving now."

"See mommy, there." Chloe pointed out to their father's groundcar sitting at the front of the lineup to get past the carnage.

James, Savanna, and their mother all gave a deep sigh of relief. Chloe looked at them with a puzzled look. Then they all laughed, releasing all the pent up emotion from possibly having lost their father through joyous raucous laughter.

They finished eating dinner around 7:00, when Peter McCloud walked in through the front door. "Sorry I'm late family. There was a horrible accident on the freeway which I barely avoided."

"Chloe scared us all, when she said you were on the news." James said, "But then we saw your car in the lineup and we knew you were alright."

"We were all very worried for a moment there. But here you are, safe and sound." His mother added, giving her husband a welcoming hug and kiss.

"Well, I missed you too." Replied Dad, not really knowing what to say after such genuine concern. Changing the subject, he asked, "Mm, smells good, what is for dinner?"

Heading off to the kitchen with his wife, Peter left James, Savanna, and Chloe in the living room. James left the room and went back downstairs to the family office and got onto the computer. Bored, he pulled up the IM and surfed the internet for a bit, checking his email, reading through forums. A few notices for band class came up, along with a birthday party invitation. Suddenly an orange bar began to flash at the bottom of his screen, indicating an IM. James clicked on the bar, seeing that his good friend Nate was trying to talk to him.

"Hey James, how r u?"

"Mmk."

"Life treating you a'ight?"

"I'm alive and breathing, is that enough?"

"Lol, sure."

"What are you doing right now?" James asked.

"Not much."

"Really?"

"Sitting, breathing..."

"Haha. good call."

"So," Nate began, "Spring Banquet..."

James' heart jumped to his throat.

"Ya?"

"Ur never gona guess what happened today."

"What" James asked.

"Lexi said yes."

James' heart dropped from his throat, and splashed around in his guts.

"James? You there?" Nate questioned.

Quickly, James scrolled up to the top, closed the window, logged off, and turned off the monitor.

He walked into his room, fell back onto his bed, and closed his eyes. And for once, his mind was silent.

A/N

Ok, just in case you were wondering. James isn't schizophrenic. He just psychoanalyses things to oblivion. I can relate.

That's all. Read and Review.

Haha, that is the lamest and most annoying phrase known to reader-dom if you ask me. And yet I still use it...


	3. Section One Part Three

Three

A beam of sunlight shot through the crack in the blinds, signaling the beginning of the day. Stirring gently, James woke up, but remained silent and still, eyes closed in deep contemplation.

_Today is the day!_

_No it isn't. Nate beat you to her._

_Oh._

_Loser._

_No, Nate is just more confident, and got there first, I'm...happy...for...him._

_No you're not._

_Yes...I am?_

_Riiight. Loser. Have fun at the banquet alone._

_I'll ask someone else! Ha!_

_Sicko. Guess I should have seen it coming. You spent all of two hours thinking about Lexi before you decided you wanted to marry her, so a thirty second change shouldn't be too hard._

_Oh, shut up. Honestly, I don't even know why I think. All I get is this crap._

_You know you like it. What would you do without me?_

_You? You aren't any different than me. You are a freakin' part of me._

_The best part._

_You're a jerk._

_You're a sicko. Pervert._

_Shut up._

_Riiight. Avoid the question._

_What question?_

_Haha, you just asked._

_Stupid._

_Stalker._

_I'm getting out of bed._

_Loser._

James stretched out his arms, clumsily hitting his funny bone on the bed stand as he did. He recoiled in pain, and then gave a slight laugh as the weird tingly sensation worked its way up his arm. Rolling over haphazardly, James flopped out of bed remarkable gracefully. He mussed up his hair, moving his bangs aside as he grabbed a set of clothes for the day.

As he walked out of his room, he listened carefully, heard no water running, and headed directly to the bathroom to shower. James emerged minutes later, clean, yet still slightly damp. Sauntering up the stairs, he encountered his dad. "Oh, hi James, I was just coming down to wake you up. But I see..." his voice trailed off.

"Mornin' dad." James gratuitously replied.

"Are you coming home on time today James?"

"Uh, no, I have jazz band practice after school, I'll get a ride home."

"Are you sure? I can pick you up you know."

"Yeah, I know dad."

"Just, give me a call."

"Dad."

"James?"

"Can I get up the stairs?"

"Sorry."

James gave a small chuckle as he continued up the stairs.

The rest of the morning passed by uneventfully. Breakfast was eaten, showers were taken, and all three siblings were driven to school. James made his way through the crowds of milling students to his locker. Opening it slowly, he placed his books inside, and closed the metal door. He tiptoed away from his locker, peering above the heads of the crowd which surrounded him. Angling sideways he slipped in between a couple who were nearly embracing. He ignored the cold stares he got and continued on down the hall. Turning a corner, James recognized Nate standing with his back to James. Smiling deviously James began to creep up quietly on Nate, planning on scaring the crap out of him. He quickened his steps covering ground quickly, a falcon swooping in upon a helpless mouse. Then, unthinkingly, Nate saved himself. Reaching his arm out, he placed it around Lexi's waist and pulled her a bit closer to him, giving the classic, "she's mine" look to the others in the group.

James jaw nearly fell from his face. Immediately, he began to feel his ears turn red as blood surged into his face. Turning quickly, he darted to the edge of the hallway where he found sanctuary in the form of a water fountain. Lapping quickly from the stream of water, James desperately tried to calm himself. He had nearly made a fool of himself in front of the one person who he actually cared about what they thought of him. James gasped as he inhaled a direct consequence of his lengthy drink.

Standing up slowly, James surveyed the scene once again. Nate still had his arm around Lexi, while the others laughed merrily at some ridiculous statement. Taking a deep breath he walked towards the group once again, his casual demeanor barely hiding the maelstrom brewing within him. "Hey James!" Called out one of his friends, "We were just talking about you."

James' heart began to beat like a drop hammer on steroids. "We decided that you would actually look pretty good in a kilt." His heart stopped, fell into his guts, jumped around a bit, then climbed back into his chest and resumed beating as if nothing had happened.

"Oh," he replied with feigned nonchalance, "Cool."

The circle laughed at his apathetic sounding response. Nearly simultaneously, the bell rang, directing the milling students to direct rooms.

First class was Chemistry and, as usual, the teacher was late. Not just five minutes, but twenty. The class was nearly over when the teacher had calmed them down, answered all the questions about the homework and handed out the lesson. This meant only one thing to the students, homework. Not that James ever did his. Chemistry came to him easily. So did marks. With this teacher, as long as you had your homework done for the two classed he actually checked, you were golden. Really, the only reason James had taken the class was because of the hilarious friends in the class. To his right sat Mishka, a ridiculously skinny bear. Mishka was the single smartest student in the class, no questions asked. He was also the most random, with the exception of James. To his left, sat Peewee. Peewee's name was fitting yet not. The falcon was short, he barely made it to James shoulder, but the bird was built like a tank. Actually, more like two tanks. It was a common occurrence for the biggest and strongest football players to leave the weight room ashamed as Peewee lifted at least fifty pounds more than them at any given time.

That particular class had been especially funny. The first twenty minutes were used playing impossible hangman, making up words with made up letters and no logic at all. Then when the teacher came, the real fun began. It began with Peewee, deciding that a group poem should be written. Before long the group of three had: _This is my freestyle to you, I want to be grand/ To grow up a traitor fireball in my hand._ As profound as it could have been taken, it only caused great hilarity among the three. Finally once homework was given out, Mishka finished in seconds, Peewee got down to work and finished with seconds left in class, and James drew pictures of stars and barns.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Lunch was eaten. Tests were written, life was generally general. James was picked up routinely, went home, did his homework, sat in the sun, remained bored for with himself, fought his thoughts, and ate dinner. Shortly after dinner was over the phone rang. James answered it, "Hello?"

"Hey, is James there?"

"You're speaking to him."

"Hi James, its Xander."

"Hey."

"So, about this morning, the kilt thing..."

"Ya..."

"I was thinking that you and I should make the banquet a stag affair."

"Of course," James replied, "You actually think that I could get a date?"

"Haha, you're too hard on yourself."

"Whatever, so, what does this have to do with a kilt?"

"Well, I think that we should go in kilts."

"Are you crazy?" James nearly shrieked.

"Umm..."

"That is the most amazing idea ever!"

"You think so?" Xander asked hopefully, "You sounded so against it when I..." his voice trailed off.

"No way, man, that is awesome. Hey, lets go see what we can find right now."

"Right now?" Xander asked incredulously.

"Why not?" Replied James, "I'll meet you at the SuperPawn downtown ok?"

"Sure. I'll be there, I hope." Xander said cautiously.

Rarely did James ever get excited about shopping. It was in his blood to be nearly apathetic about his fashion in general, but there was something that caught his attention about wearing a kilt. He rushed through his house, picking up his wallet and keys as he did. Quickly, he poked his head into the kitchen. "Mom, is it ok if I go downtown to meet Xander? Promise I'll be back by nine."

"Umm, ok James, but take the cell phone so we can call you ok?"

"A'ight, thanks."

Taking the steps three at a time, James bounded towards the front door. He opened the door and stepped out into the cooling evening air. Locking the door behind him, he walked to the bus stop at the end of the road and waited. After a couple of minutes, the bus arrived and James departed to the downtown core.

He spotted Xander standing warily outside the SuperPawn. James waved enthusiastically, receiving an obligatory smile from Xander. The pair entered the giant pawn shop. It was nearly a department store. The smell of dust and smoke hung heavily in their nostrils as they passed through row upon row of musty clothing. "Maybe we should check the women's section," James suggested, "The ignorant may not recognize a kilt when they see it."

"Good point," Xander agreed.

The two sauntered into the women's section and filed through the skirts. Abruptly James pulled out a black kilt with white and red plaid on it. "'Tis a crying shame that such an amazing piece of workmanship was mistaken for a mere skirt," remarked James as held the kilt up.

Seconds later, Xander pulled out a deep red and blue plaid kilt. The wool was thick and heavy, preventing the flipping up of the fringes. They took their newfound treasures up to the front kiosk to pay. The ancient shopkeeper, looked at the boys quizzically, and then rang up the bill without question.

As they walked out onto the sidewalk, James quickly pulled his kilt on over his pants. He then skillfully undid his belt and pulled off his pants from underneath the kilt, fully changing in full public view. He quickly looped his belt through the loops and began to walk towards the bus stop like nothing had happened. As he approached the station he began to get more and more weird glances. Eventually, James would see someone trying not to look and casually say to them: "Yes, it is a kilt."

The ride back home was odd, slightly awkward, but otherwise, uneventful. James climbed off the bus and walked the last block to his house, proud beyond belief at his sense of self confidence, and that he was indeed wearing a kilt.

As he walked up the stairs to his front door, James indulged himself in a small moment of self praise, "Let's see the world try and stop us now!"


	4. Section Two Part One

**Sooo, basically, I was uber disappointed with chapter three. Hate to admit it. But it sucked. Nothing happened, and really, it didn't move the plot along. Umm, sooo, executive decision is to skip the rest of high school, because honestly, no one really cares anymore. So, we have basically wrapped up the "Learning" section of James McCloud's life. Haha, about the kilt...a Scottish clan is the McLeod clan, which is pronounced mik-lowd, or McCloud. So, that's my reason, if you needed one. And, besides, it is more epic if he wears a kilt. At least I think so...haha, and it's my story to tell. At least this version...**

**Well, I've been rambling. Definitely. I definitely say definitely too much. **

Love

Section Two: Part One

James smiled as he walked down the long gray hallways of the institution. Rarely did he ever get to walk this way. He slowed his walk enough that he could examine the pictures on the walls. He found his face in four consecutive years, among a sea of faces. Continuing on down the hallway, he slowed to examine the trophy cases. They still had his old trophy for Outstanding Soloist in Jazz Band, he smiled.

"James?" A voice called out from down the hall.

Looking up he replied quickly, "Yeah?"

"They're calling everyone into the gym to present the homecoming king and queen. Are you coming?"

"Oh yeah," James said monotonously, "Gimme a sec, k?"

"Alright, you better come soon though."

James scoffed lightly; he didn't know why he even continued to come to homecomings and grad reunions. He never met any of his old friends, and rarely did he ever have any good conversation. A third year university student, studying hard, and working his butt off training in the aero-tech sector of the school, he didn't have time for these sort of things, yet every year he got dragged back by that small sense of responsibility. One day, he thought to himself, I'm just gonna say 'screw it all' and just run away to some far away land and come back rich.

A cheer began to grow in the gymnasium, and the raucous shouts alerted James towards the gym doors. Walking in, he peered over the shoulders of his peers in search of the reason for the commotion. Suddenly a pair of heads burst out of the milling crowd and paraded up onto the platform. It was the homecoming king and queen, a couple he had never taken the time to know. Turning his gaze away from the overrated and gaudy ritual, he caught eyes with Nate. It was the first time in nearly two years since he had seen Nate. Lexi was right beside him.

Waving, James began to shove his way through the masses towards his friends. "Hey, Nate." he called out.

Nate raised his hand in recognition of James approach. Once James had waded his way to them, they embraced, shook hands, and began to discuss matters of no particular importance. James soon found out that Nate was attending a medical school just fifteen minutes away from James' university. Lexi was working on an undergrad in nursing. James took the time to tell them about his classes before he began to reminisce about high school with them.

Eventually, the well of wit dried up and small talk became boring and less than meaningless. Looking for resolution, James offered, "So, maybe sometime soon we should get together for coffee? Here, I'll give you my dorm phone number."

And with the movement of a piece of paper, James social life at the party ended. Easily tired of these banal functions he drove back to his campus and returned to his dorm tired, yet complacent. Sitting down at his computer he pulled up his term paper. It was nearly finished, and he was quite proud of it, especially because he still had two weeks to perfect it. As a reward for himself, he shut down the window and allowed himself to procrastinate just this once.

It was still light outside when he left his dorm to go over to the aero-tech building. Though James was one of the top mechanics students, he was also training to become a pilot, though he doubted it would take him anywhere. Mechanics would be his primary focus. Currently, he was developing an interface for a fighter jet that would allow the pilot to control the plane with thoughts as well as motion, thus allowing a much quicker reaction time, and ability to dodge. It was years in the making, but James loved a challenge.

The shop was still dimly light when he arrived. Knocking gently on the door which was left ajar, he called out, "Hey, anyone there? Hello?"

"Hi James!" called out a voice from near the back of the shop. "Just Meig here."

"Oh, hi Meig. How's your project coming?" James questioned as he walked across the swept cement floor, searching for a soldering iron.

"It's taking its time, that's for sure." She laughed. Meig had a hilarious sense of humor, not as random as James, but sharp nonetheless. "Yours?"

James laughed heartily, "My federal project? Ha, I'll be surprised if I finish before I retire."

They both laughed loudly, not bothering to conceal their mirth.

Quickly, James sat down with his mother board, electrodes, and a spaghetti bowl of wires, switches, and who knows what at a computer. He opened the schematics to his current plans, pulled out a calculator, and an advanced neurological biology textbook. He dove deep into complex calculations, nerve reaction times, hand eye coordination ratios, brainwave magnification, and electrode manipulation. Time passed quickly, a blur of nothingness as James delved deeper into the elusive darkness of his own mind. For hours, his pencil scribbled furiously, squaring, multiplying, rooting, finding theta, following miniscule portions of delta, and measuring just about any detectable mental electronic response.

"James?" a small hand tapped his shoulder. James whirled around, startled by the break in his concentration.

"Whaa?"

"James." Meig calmed, "Its past midnight, you should be heading back to your dorm now. I am."

"Oh." James rubbed his eyes, "Sounds like a good idea, I'm not getting anywhere anyways."

"Really?" Meig inquired, "You mind if I take a look?"

"Nope, not at all. But be warned, I wrote it, and I barely understand it." James laughed weakly.

Meig studied the calculations and scribbled notes intently. "This is the average speed of a brain wave?" she asked pointing at a circled number.

"Umm, yeah," James replied, "And this is-"

Meig interrupted, "The fluctuation between electrodes in charge and pickup speed." She raised her hand to her face, scratching behind her ear thoughtfully.

"So, the problem is," James explained, "You can't get the electrodes to pick up the brain waves fast enough to react faster than a regular pilot would be able to react, thus making it pointless. So now, I am trying to find a way to improve the pickup speed of the electrodes."

"You can't just boost the power supply?" Meig asked, knowing that James had already formulated at least four reasons why it wouldn't work.

"No, when the volts are increased, it interferes with the actual reading, and when the amperes are increased, it interferes with the actually brain activity, thus electrocuting your brain. Very lightly of course."

"Is there some sort of 'faster' metal that you can use to pick up brain waves?" Meig continued to question.

"There are only four elements that are capable of picking up brain waves, and only one is non-radioactive, the other three are highly instable, and can kill anything within a 50 meter radius in less than ten seconds."

"How did they figure that out?" Meig giggled.

James laughed, "The hard way I guess."

They both laughed, this time not as loud, respecting the hours of the now tomorrow morning.

"Well, James," Meig gave a mock sigh, "It seems that you have yourself a dilemma."

"Yeah, I guess," James played along feigning genuity.

"My only advice is to go back to your dorm and go to sleep." Meig finished, adding emphasis on the last half, making them both laugh again.

"Ok, mom," James replied sarcastically. "I'll go to bed now."

As he turned to walk out of the shop with her, James stopped. "Meig,"

"Yes James?"

"Thanks. I needed that."

"Needed what?" Meig asked, wondering what she had done.

"Just that back there. It's good to talk to someone down to earth for once, and not all completely work, work, work, work, or funny, funny, funny, thought I do admit, I did laugh. It's good to know you."

"Well," Meig stuttered, "You're welcome. I'm cool to talk to you anytime eh?"

"Ok."

"Night James."

"You're not leaving too?"

"'Course not, my project is actually due this lifetime."

A chorus of laugher shook the shop once again before James left and went back to his dorm alone.


	5. Section Two Part Two

Sleep was an elusive fiend that James never seemed to be able to capture. Like most every night, he went back to his dorm, puttered around for a few minutes, then sat on his computer for a couple of hours before realizing how ridiculously late it was, then going to bed exhausted and unable to sleep. He would wake up the next morning desperately tired, wondering why he had stayed up so late, and then head off to class, barely kept alive by high caffeine energy drinks. The lecture he had on neurological science came first at ten, which was followed almost immediately by a mechanics session at noon. This gave James enough time to sprint across the campus, eating as he went and get to the mechanics class about four minutes early.

As he walked into the expansive shop, he studied the metal plating on some of the more detailed projects. Numerous students had taken the classic approach to the required Artificial Intelligence project, building a simple computer and then placing it within a droid of sorts. Others however had barely scraped by with the AI and had put enormous amounts of work into the robot, making it function nearly perfect without a computer. Meig was one of these students. Though she was majoring in mechanics and technology, she had at least four commitments pertaining to art and performance. Her latest project was the AI which she had dubbed ROB. It by far was one of the best functioning robots in the class, but its AI needed a vast amount of work. Maybe one day she would let James upgrade the system, not that he really wanted to.

Setting down his lunch, James sat on a workbench and munched away at a granola bar. He sat in contemplative silence, listening to the teacher and another student talking across the room, only half paying attention.

"I'm considering using some form of 'speed metal' as it has been called by the media in my robot's functioning system. However it is ridiculously expensive and I was wondering if the school would be willing to purchase it for 'research purposes.'"

James' ears perked up. He heard the teacher grunt with dissatisfaction, "Why do you need this?"

"It will function faster..."

"You're only building a simple AI system, and our technology will function fast enough if you don't hook it up wrong." The teacher said in a condescending tone.

James stood up from the bench and hurried over to the conversation.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I couldn't help overhearing something about a speed metal. If it does what I hope it will, it could change history."

Taken aback by this new interruption, the teacher took a step back and held up his hands, "Whoa, easy there Turbo, calm down. Who are you?"

"James McCloud."

"Oh, the kid with the impossible project."

James frowned, "Improbable."

"Ok, so what do you want with this speed metal?"

"Does it pick up brainwaves?"

"What?" the student and teacher asked in unison.

"Sorry," James clarified, "Is this metal a superconductor?"

"Yes, it has to be; otherwise it wouldn't be able to be used in the high speed energy transfers."

James ignored this fact; he did not care about some obscure military technique of energy transport. "So, it would be able to pick up miniscule electrical charges, such as brainwave."

"Oh easy," the teacher filled in. "It is capable of picking up a current of less than two millionths of an Ohm and a voltage of less than a quarter billionth of a volt. This stuff is beyond sensitive."

"How quickly does it read?"

He got quizzical looks.

"How long does it take for, let's say, a six foot length to read an impulse in a computer?"

"Oh, like a metal reaction time? This is near instantaneous."

"So are brain waves." James pointed out.

"Ok, fine, I'll look it up right now." The teacher said shaking his head, "I'm still amazed that I remembered the bit about volts and Ohms..."

In a couple of minutes the teacher had pulled up a number of charts on the speed metal alloy. James' eyes scanned the chart, searching for the vital number. Finally, he caught the beautiful look of an obtuse amount of zeros behind a decimal point. He counted them carefully, nearly jumping with joy when he passed seven decimal spots. It was fast enough. More than fast enough. This was beyond fast. It was insane.

Unable to restrain himself, James blurted, "I need this metal! I can finish my project!"

Both the teacher and the student stared at him mouths agape. Was it actually going to be possible? "Well," the teacher started, "Seeing as we could be starting a revolution here, I would say that it is necessary to purchase an amount of this metal," he winced, "No matter what the cost."

The student looked hopeful, "But not for you." the teacher continued, "I'm sorry, you're project isn't groundbreaking enough."

"But sir," whined the ape, "I need it to speed up the core processor!"

"Andross, how will that make your robot any better? Your robot has no need to be any faster than any of the others; it won't get you a better mark."

Defeated and sullen, Andross Oikonny walked out of the shop, holding a grudge against James McCloud for who knows how long.

The next few weeks passed brutally slowly for James, how ironic that speed metal took so long to arrive. When he saw the bill for the wiring he nearly choked. How could he, a student have just spent that much of the universities money? Still, he did his best to fill his time meaningfully, finalizing the plans and trying to figure out connections to the rest of the fighter and how the interface would be integrated. Finally after nearly two weeks of waiting, the precious speed metal from the desolate and toxic mines of the planet Venom arrived.

The package that arrived was surprisingly light for its considerable size. James carefully sliced open the top of the package admiring the well wrapped, insulated quarntanium wires.

Then without further ado, James dived into the box, emptied it of its contents and set ahead furiously building his speed machine.

He worked forty-seven hours straight, no food, and only sips of water. Slowly the helmet began to take shape, and then the interface was pieced together at a rapid, yet precise speed. After all this was finished, James stood back and took a look at his work. A second later he ran as fast as he could to the nearest washroom, emptying his nearly overflowing bladder.

When he reentered the shop he examined his work. To the untrained eye, and James had to admit, his eye too, it looked like a massive pile of wires that some eighth grade student had thrown out after too many failures. Now came the fun part.

As simple as it was, the task of hooking up the large interface to a flight simulator took James nearly seven hours. Fingers greasy from crawling around under the machine, and face smudged with dirt, James slowly placed the helmet on his head and uploaded the simulator agility course. He felt the cold metal buzz and vibrate softly as it sent out minuscule pulses of electricity into his brain to confirm what it was reading.

The simulator took a couple minutes longer than usual to load, but James didn't mind. He had just spent nearly fifty-four hours building and setting up the machine, and he was more than willing to wait two minutes after such and ordeal. Finally the simulator loaded and James' eyes were filled with a grey landscape, with floating rings all around him. Immediately his ship jumped forward, jerking left and right. James began to panic; the ship's behavior only became more and more erratic. Desperately searching for a way out James went to hit the eject button. But the simulator had ended long before that. Within millionths of a nanosecond as James thought of hitting the eject button the cockpit had opened on the simulated Arwing and James and been rocketed out of the ship and back into his darkened simulator cockpit.

Blinking James looked at his hand, still frozen in time level with his shoulder about to smash into the eject button. The system worked. The system worked. The system worked. The system worked!

Elated, James clambered out of the simulator and did a small victory dance before shouting loudly, "It works!"

A deathly silence followed his actions. He looked around him. Everyone in the class was staring at him. He laughed nervously. Searching for an escape he quickly began to dismantle the main connections to the simulator, laughing to himself as he went.


	6. Section Two Part Three

Sooo, this is my little section before the continuation of Learnings, Love, and Legacy. I just figured, aww, I'll just cut the crap.

Right now this story has a 1.6:1 Chapter to review ratio, which is ironic because most reviewers don't leave a thousand word long review, unlike my chapters.

Even worse in my thoughts is the 79.6 : 1 hit to review ratio. Yup, nearly 80 hits before a review.

So, I figure this is probably my fault. So, instead of just hoping that all of you wonderful readers will review, I'm going to ask for it. I hate having to ask for feedback, because I feel that it would be common courtesy to review other's works when searching for reviews on your own fics.

Well. That little escapade/rant is over.

The dinosaur ate the dog!

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Cafeteria food is notorious just about anywhere. Either it is passable, or terrible. James' university was no exception. When it came to food, you tried to eat as little as possible. He had wondered numerous times how such a well-to-do, successful university like the Cornerian University of Aero-technologies had ended up with such crappy food. Maybe, they were so rich because they put so little money into cafeteria food and charged so much for it. Either way, James thought it was ethically wrong to charge students for the indecencies called food. Unfortunately for him, this meant he had to get used to eating microwaveable foods nearly constantly. And over time the novelty of instant fish sticks became rather revolting to him.

Thus James entered the cafeteria, ready to pay for torture, or lunch, whichever they were serving.

Pleasantly enough, the 'soup of the week,' was only three days old, so it was possible to still use your spoon for other food afterward. James wolfed down the disgusting brew, feeling the rarity of heat seeping into his stomach. He munched some month old crackers, wondering how something that was once crunchy could become rubbery after sitting out in the open air. He let out a small burp of contentment, and nearly puked as the taste of the soup was catapulted through his nostrils. "Definitely staying with microwave fish sticks." James thought as he exited the cafeteria, wondering if he was full, or just sick.

When he got back to his dorm, he found that his cell phone had a couple missed calls on it. He returned the first one, and then moved onto the second. Hitting the dial button, James was greatly surprised to hear Lexi's voice on the other end of the line. "Hello?"

"Oh, Lexi, this is James calling, I saw that you called earlier and thought that I would return your-"

"Thanks James. I really need to talk to you."

James paused for a second. "Umm, ok, fire away. I'm listening."

"No, I mean face to face." Lexi corrected in a somewhat irritated tone.

"Oh, sorry." James apologized, "Um, then when and where do you want to meet?"

"As soon as possible."

"I'm not doing anything right now, and my classes are over for the day."

"James, its Saturday, you don't have any classes."

James looked at his watch incredulously. "Wow, it is Saturday. I was sure it was Friday. I must have worked for forty-eight hours straight..."

"What?" Lexi asked, thoroughly confused.

"Sorry, I'm just rambling. I can meet you at the coffee shop by the theater in about 20 minutes, how does that sound?"

"Alright, I'll meet you there James."

"A'ight."

And with a small click, the conversation ended. James' stomach immediately began doing back flips. He was ridiculously excited to be able to spend "alone time" with Lexi, but her tone of voice had told him that it wasn't about him.

James turned to grab his coat and leave, then turned back._ I should call and cancel_, then he turned around again. _I AM going to have coffee with Lexi._

The battle between his feet and gut only lasted for another couple seconds before his head stepped in and ordered everyone out the door to go meet up with Lexi.

James watched his breath condense in front of him as he walked out the door. It was a brisk fall day, bursting with oranges, reds, ochre, and a million shades of vibrant yellow. His footsteps crunched lightly as he stepped on wide brimmed maple leaves that were strewn upon the path like monster rainbow snowflakes. Smiling, James headed off the paved walkway and shuffled through a pile of knee deep leaves, enjoying the crispy, crunchy noise they made. As he made his way back to the path, James thrust his hands deep into his coat pockets and inhaled deeply, the cold air clearing his head instantly.

The remainder of the walk to the coffee shop was pure bliss for James; never had the simple pleasure of being outside seemed so phenomenal. The air seemed crisper, and crackling with electric life. The whole planet seemed to release in a deep contented sigh with James as he entered the coffee shop, rosy-cheeked and light-hearted.

Spotting Lexi at a corner table, he waved friendlily, motioning that he was going to get something to drink before joining her at the table. His drink came quickly, and soon James found himself sitting across the table from Lexi. Blowing on his drink lightly to cool it off, James looked up at Lexi, "So," he started, "How are you doing?"

Lexi giggled slightly before shaking her head, "James, you know I asked to meet you here for a reason."

"Well, I know," James fumbled, looking for words desperately, "I was merely getting rid of pleasantries...Ummm."

Lexi giggled again, looking at James as if he were her foolish younger brother.

"Sorry," James quickly apologized, "Let's just get down to business then."

Lexi rolled her eyes, before smiling at the awkward, teen-like, young man she saw before her. Though high school had not been kind to James for appearance, those years passed had now matured his body nicely. His thin, yet lithe body was nearly over clothed with his undeservingly amazing coat of red-orange fur. Deep brown eyes framed by a strong forehead with a bold white streak cutting down its center till it met his nose. James wasn't overly attractive, but was good looking enough to pass as any other knight in shining armor.

"You know," James said, shaking his head, "I'm just going to shut up and let you talk before I injure myself here, ok?"

Lexi laughed again, "Ok James, have it your way."

James grinned sheepishly, "Please, begin."

Lexi returned his smile, and then averted her eyes, taking up a contemplative stance. Sighing deeply she began, "Recently, life hasn't been too great. Though my schooling is working out just fine, Nate is becoming more of a problem every day. Well, he was, before..."

James leaned forward, trying to catch Lexi's gaze, "Is Nate ok? Did something happen to him?"

"No, no, not that sort of before..." Lexi corrected quickly, a slight tinge of anger seeping into her voice. "Before we broke up."

James fell back into his chair._ Dang, should have seen that one coming._ Staring at his coffee momentarily, James sat up again, flicking the handle of the mug thoughtfully. "So, is that why you called me here? Or is there something as well as that?" James asked carefully, wondering how he had been so foolish to walk into such a dangerous situation.

Lexi looked at him, now seeing the deeper side of James, the side of nobility, courage, and possibly, romance. "Well, I just needed to get it off my chest," she replied. "Bitterness doesn't help my already hectic life, so I just needed someone to listen to me rant a bit."

James gave a small shrug of agreement, "I know the feeling. Well, not exactly..."

"Yeah, I know," Lexi said playfully, swatting at James ear. "Hmm, I don't know what happened to us, me and Nate that is." Lexi continued, showing no signs of slowing soon. "We always got along so nicely. He was always such a nice boy around me, and really I never saw any need to be searching for anyone 'better' than him, because he was perfect for me in my eyes."

James leaned back in his chair, slouching slightly. He watched Lexi intently as she spoke. Her deep red fur glistened slightly as she breathed. Nodding slightly he acknowledged her monologue.

"So, after all this time, I think he just got tired of me. I am only one girl in a million, and really, I guess I should be surprised it lasted this long with his commitment level. You know he has had four jobs in the last three years? Summer jobs only or course due to school, but even still, he couldn't hold a job for more than four weeks last summer. I'm scared for him a bit."

James hummed in agreement. "Do you mind if I say something?" he asked cautiously.

"Ok," Lexi replied.

"I have known Nate for a very long time, no, more like a ridiculously long time, and during all that time, he has always seemed like a great kid to me. But I do admit, after he, well, you know, went through puberty, he became more aggressive, not to mention charismatic and good looking. If you don't mind me saying this, I think it was only so long before he realized that IN HIS MIND," James emphasized, "he could do better than you."

Lexi looked at James incredulously, and then slowly her expression changed as she realized that the awkward fox before her was right.

"It's just," James continued, trying to expand his point, yet clarify at the same time, "It was only a matter of time before the attention he got from other women started to get to his ego. And we both know what happens when Nate's ego goes..."

Lexi gave a weak laugh._ Shoot, look what you did you punk. Look at her. She's freakin' hurting! And all you can do is try and crack jokes about Nate's ego? Ego shmego! Try and be a gentleman!_

"Lexi," James breathed deeply, slowing the conversation to a near halt. "Lexi, you know that this wasn't your fault. Right?"

Lexi nodded slowly, not really believing it.

"Really Lexi. I speak for all males when I say that we are weird! Nate is weird, I am weird. Sure, I will never understand the female mind, but a guys mind can be just as frustrating to try and understand. You need to know that this isn't your fault. Nate is just..." James grunted with frustration as he searched for words. "You have no idea how..." His voice cut out again. "Ok, just know this." He breathed deeply. _Am I doing this? YES, do it._ "Whether it is Nate, or any other male, know that whatever the outcome, you are beautiful. To me, and to countless others, you are so much more than..." James felt his face begin to flush red. Lexi smiled quietly. "I...uh...mmm...have...leave...sorry." James choked out. He gave Lexi a quick hand on her shoulder and a quick wave before exiting the café in a flurry, feeling his embarrassment run from eartip to the end of his tail.

The chilly air outside the coffee shop came like a slap in the face to James. His face burned with shame, while his nose went numb due to the cold. Confused, embarrassed, and climactically challenged, James headed back to his dorm for the evening.

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So, there it is. Chapter six. Or Section two, part...whatever.

Feel free to leave review, even if it is only criticism. Words aren't going to kill me, so whatever you leave will only help my writing improve. Besides, I don't have to worry about self esteem, when you have none in the first place.

Now, for all ye are now complaining of "freaking lack of action" which will undoubtedly come up, it's his entire life. James McCloud was a legend, give him some time. I most obviously made a mistake trying to categorize his life into three sections when really; the first two should probably be amalgamated into a meta-section and the third should just be an epilogue. So, just ignore the pathetic categories and read and review.

Just something random...

What I'm Listening To:

Can't Help Falling In Love- Andrea Bocelli

Everything You Ever Wanted- Hawk Nelson

Some Will Seek Forgiveness, Others Escape- UnderOATH

Red Sky- Thrice

For Miles- Thrice

The Crane Wife 1&2- The Decemberists


	7. Section Two Part Four

Wow, response to chapter six was amazing. Thanks sooo much to all of you who reviewed, you have all renewed my faith in readerandreviewer-kind. Special thanks to XSpecter for all the detail they put into their review, which will make my writing much easier now.

That's all.

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James woke up alone the next morning, the windows in his room tinged with condensation. The dorm room was filled with silence seeing as his dorm mates had already left for breakfast. True to form, James ignored cafeteria breakfast and sat down with a bowl of cold cereal. Who knew such an ancient food could taste so good?

Chewing thoughtfully, James slowly depleted the cereal in the bowl. Glancing at his watch, he realized that, even though it was Sunday, he was going to have to get showered and ready for the day if he wanted to work on his project at all. Slapping his face lightly, he tried to wake himself from his lazy, sluggish morning attitude. Not succeeding, James stumbled off the couch, leaving the dirty bowl on the coffee table for someone else to clean up later.

He hopped into the shower and immediately jumped out very awake. Once again, the hot and cold faucets had been switched by his genius roommates. As he turned off the water, James removed the knobs on the faucets with a swift tug, then re-switched them. Turning on the hot water now, James clambered into the shower tentatively, then felt the ever heating water on his paw, then stood up fully, letting the hot water splash into his face. He spent nearly a full minute before he changed his position and began to clean himself.

After his shower, James got out of the shower dried his fur, leaving it fuzzy and awry. Quickly running his fingers through his fur, he combed it down until he looked presentable, and then got dressed in regular casual attire. James rubbed the condensation off the mirror and looked at himself quickly. Smiling, he realized he needed to brush his teeth. After doing so, James left the bathroom clean and content.

Once again, walking outside was glorious, especially with slightly damp fur. James smiled as he felt the warmth of the sun on his face. Dodging among leaves, shadows, and sunlight, James made his way to the mechanics lab. Tugging on the door handle, he entered the building.

The hallway lights were dimmed, to save energy on a non-class day. The darkened corridor echoed ominously, not bothering James, even though it was undeniably eerie. Friendly light came through the small window in the door of the mechanics room. Slowly pulling the door open, James called out, "Hello? It's James here."

There were only a couple students in the lab, and only Meig recognized his existence. "Hi James, how are you" she said from across the lab, quite loudly.

"Oh, I'm doing just fine, you?"

"Ok, still having difficulties with ROB, but otherwise, nothing else."

James stopped for a moment, "Is it his AI that isn't functioning?"

"No, I'm not even worrying about that; it's his legs that are the problem."

"Mmk." James acknowledged.

James sauntered over to his designated 'corner of improbability' as he had dubbed it. The helmet sat, a lump of wires and metal. A ridiculously expensive pile of wires and metal. Sitting down in a rolling chair, James thought. Obviously, the reason that the helmet hadn't worked was because James' thoughts were too erratic. Either he would have to train to be an extreme Zen yoga master who had complete control over his thoughts, or he would have to develop some sort of program to decipher the important thoughts from the unimportant ones. James laughed; after all of the trouble he had gone through to convince his teacher that he shouldn't have to build an AI robot like everyone else, he was still going to need a wicked fast AI program.

Seeing no other logical option, James set off to working on the AI program.

The first and most painful step was rewiring the entire processor with the speed metal. About an hour in, James realized the futility of this, and quickly undid his work, and began to build his own processor from scratch. Following the design of the fastest processor the university had to offer, James built a compact version, using as short lengths of wire as possible. He spent the next week in and out of the lab, perfecting his creation, compacting the processor, removing the unnecessary parts, and re-compacting it. Finally, after about thirty hours of work, James held before him a core processor, complete with operational memory that was small enough to fit in his pocket.

Next came the Artificial Intelligence program. It nearly took James an entire month to build the program, tweak it, and program choice after choice after choice. Though his marks in other classes had suffered greatly, James couldn't help but jump with joy when he finished the program and it loaded into the miniature processor with complete compatibility.

The semester was nearly over by the time he had finished the entire AI section of the project. James had been forced to drop out of two of his other courses, leaving only mechanics and piloting as his remaining courses. His piloting course mark was barely a pass, because James had never taken the time to complete all of the simulator courses, meaning he was missing over forty percent of his mark. He planned to change that very quickly.

Once again, James walked into the piloting building, and began to hook up his machine to the simulator. This time it only took him three hours, thank goodness. Sliding into the cockpit, James slipped on his newly refurbished helmet, now a sleek grey color with no visible wires. Loading the first agility program, James felt butterflies in his stomach. He had come too far to be beaten now.

The grey screen loaded, and then filled with red rings. James' Arwing didn't shake, move, or do anything._ Forward._ The Arwing jumped ahead at a breakneck speed. _Up, left, down, right, right, roll, down, up, up, left, dodge, loop, shoot time-stopping target._ James looked at his stats. Rings missed: 0 Time Allowed: 15 seconds, Time taken: 7.48 seconds New Simulator Record. Please Enter Name:. The cursor blinked at James expectantly. Smiling, James quickly thought, _James McCloud_. The screen beeped at him. Invalid, please enter using provided keyboard. Laughing James spoke aloud to himself, "You can't win everything."

_But now I can._

Without any reluctance, James finished the entire simulation program in less than half the allotted time, receiving a perfect score on every course. It was all that the instructor of the course could do to not scream cheat when James approached him with his perfect scores. "That is completely impossible! No one has ever got perfect on every single level, ON THEIR FIRST TRY!"

"Please," James calmed, "I am willing to demonstrate for you, and even let you try what has let me get such amazing scores."

Once again, the teacher looked at him incredulously before agreeing. Minutes later, the instructor stepped out of the simulator, with a dazed look on his face. "I did everything perfectly. It's like the helmet is reading your mind."

James chuckled, "It is. And the AI programs inside sorts through all of your thoughts to determine which ones are necessary for flying the plane. However, you still need the joystick and throttle because it reads your motor impulses as how to direct the plane, just much faster than you can react."

The teacher looked at James with an amazed look on his face, "James, this is the single most amazing advancement in aerospace technologies that I have ever seen or heard of! We need to get this to a science exhibition soon!"

"Well," James interrupted quietly, "I would like to get my mark for my AI program first, then the mark for piloting, THEN it'll be golden to go."

Everyone who heard this laughed at James' simple wants in life.

----------------------------

Across campus Andross Oikonny sat his arm around Vixy Reinard. "Andross?" Vixy asked.

"Yes?"

"Why is your name Andross? It almost sounds evil, like a super villain of sorts."

"Ha ha, you know me Vixy, the evil mastermind." Andross replied jokingly. Then more seriously, "I could never be a villain Vixy, I love you too much."

"Hmm." Vixy sighed as she snuggled up to the ape, closing her eyes and resting her head on his chest.

_Ha, McCloud, you may have all the teachers on your side, but who needs them when you've got someone like Vixy? Idiot. Your project isn't that great anyway._

------------------------------------

Ok, so, there is chapter Seven, or what ever I have called it on the website...

Now that you have read, time to review, right?

And you know what. This chapter reeks of 'filler' material. Sorry, its kind of a sad chapter. Its lameness is pretty lame. Don't worry, some real plot should happen next chapter. And some exciting betrayal, hopefully.

Cool beans.

a'ight

review my minions!

haha, just like the word.

What I'm listening to: (Figure, why not?)

Blisters and Coffee-The Classic Crime, Albatross

Transylvania-McFly, Motion in the Ocean

Weight of Glory-Thrice, Red Sky EP

Writings on the Walls-Underoath, Define the Great Line


	8. Section Two Part Five

Shoot. Sorry about the hideously long update. I just went to Minnesota and Manitoba to visit grandparents and cousins. And got a flat tire right near Sturgis, and had it repaired in Wall, South Dakota, along with the 5000 bikers who had decided to stop in as well. But don't worry; my hotel was very nice that night, at least until the laundry room caught on fire. And my little brother puked in the parking lot. But other than that the trip was great. Not that anyone really cares.

Oooook, here goes. To save on the cliché-i-ness of James waking up and getting ready for the day, every chapter, lets just say he's already awake. K?

Cool beans.

------------------------------

A buzz filled the air as James entered the mechanics shop Monday morning. Never before had such a major accomplishment come from such a young student at the university. Especially, one who could also pilot a plane like nothing else. Smiling to hide his urge to jump and dance in circles, James walked through sea of gazes, once again to his corner of improbability. Picking up small tubes containing blueprints, a couple sketches, calculations, and bits of metal, James slowly removed the essential aspects of his project from the desk, and then with a flurry of fur, paper, and scrap metal, flipped his desk upside-down in defiance of the project which had plagued him for so long. This drew a couple more stares, but there weren't many who weren't already looking at him. Smiling again, James exited the shop.

As the door closed with a bang behind him, James let out a loud laugh as he threw back his head in elation. He needed only to take a few steps before he found himself standing at the teacher's door. Knocking with a classic _shave and a hair cut- two bits!_ rhythm, James waited for the door to open. "How's my favorite student doing?" He heard as the door opened. Smirking, James thought, _Really? I thought it was the blonde with the-_ "Please come sit down." the teacher motioned with a grease stained paw to an overstuffed La-Z-Boy chair which seemed ridiculously out of place in the grungy teacher's office.

"Morning Mr. Kyrgos." James replied obligatorily.

"James McCloud, James McCloud, do you know how awesome your invention has been for our department? Honestly, within three days, I have received more invitations to science exhibitions than I have ever applied for. There is even an invitation from THE Inter-Planetary Aeronautics and Space Exhibition in a completely different solar system! James, this is beyond ground breaking, this is..this is..."

"I get the picture sir," James politely replied, trying to calm down the exasperated educator. "I'm just wondering which one I will be attending, or, which one the school would be willing to send me to. You know, seeing how tight my budget is as a student-"

"YOU, PAY?! James, you are beyond a student now, you are a scientific rock star. I would pay so I could pay to send you to a convention." The red faced teacher exclaimed before launching into a coughing fit.

Raising his hands to shield himself from the flying phlegm, James grinned to himself. _I really am this popular._

After the mucous barrage, James continued the conversation, "So, has the university chosen an exhibition they want me to go to?"

"Yes, sorry James," Mr. Kyrgos apologized, wiping his mouth with his sleeve, "This year, the ACCPAC, or Association of Cornerian Commonwealth Pilots and Aeronautics Convention, is being held in our capital city of Corneria, not three blocks from here."

James looked at the teacher quizzically. "Excuse me sir, but all this hubbub, and I'm being sent three blocks away?"

Shrugging the teacher continued, "James, this is the largest convention within our solar system, and it will have some inter-system representatives as well. Please, this is more than enough for you."

Blushing slightly at his arrogance, James quickly apologized. "Sorry."

"Not a problem James. Or course, the university will be paying for your room and board at the Harkton Hotel across the street from the convention to save walking time."

James' jaw dropped visibly. The Harkton! James had only imagined, albeit quite vividly, what staying at the hotel would have been like. Apparently, even the maids at the Harkton were paid better than most high end lawyers.

The remainder of the meeting went by in a blur. James barely paid attention to what Mr. Kyrgos said, his mind wandering off to plush curtains, massive breakfasts, and most of all, fame.

The two weeks between the end of semester and the ACCPAC nearly drove James insane. He religiously tested the helmet, ensuring that no matter how many times he used it, it would still work. Even after the seven changes in paint, which James kicked himself numerous times for, the helmet held up.

During his time off, or at least, the time he wasn't stressing over the helmet, James continued to meet and talk with Lexi. During their numerous discussions, James found out a lot about his one time friend. Lexi had finished her sophomore year like James, on a high, yet off note. Though she had finished with the highest GPA in her class, she had been accused of cheating, and though found innocent; she was still stained with the rumor. Many times she spoke of how she wished that she had done things differently, and every time James had replied genuinely. Before long their meetings became more and more candid, until they became dates.

Straightening the double Windsor knot in his crimson silk tie which was splayed across his black shirt like blood on charcoal, James began to give himself a pep talk. Knowing he sounded like a complete loser, he stopped then continued as the butterflies in his stomach continued to flutter. "Ok James, just play cool. It's not like a 'will you marry me' date. No, its just a get together for a nice dinner date. Nothing to worry about. Nothing at all. Whoo." James breathed heavily before he looked at himself in the mirror, readjusted his hair, then headed out to his ground car.

Driving slowly, James rounded the corner to where he would pick up Lexi. The street lights cast ever lengthening shadows as James drove towards house 354367. James parked his car at the end of the driveway, then, straightening his collar and shirt as he walked, went to the front door. Knocking in his signature style, James waited for the door to open. Breathing deeply, he closed his eyes and slowly let out a long sigh.

"Hello?" a voice said as the door swung open. James took a step back when his eyes fell upon a fox in blouse with more buttons open than closed at the door. "Oh, um, hi." He stuttered for a second, "Is Lexi there?"

"Oh!" the fox said with a wave of realization, "You're the reason Lexi won't go clubbing with us tonight. Ya know, she's not told any of us anything for last, like three hours about tonight. She's a secretive little-"

"Is Lexi there?" James asked again, slightly annoyed at the mindless drivel from the stereotypical roommate.

"Ya? You want me to go get her?"

"If you don't mind." James replied gratefully.

Lexi's roommate turned on her heel and walked into the house, shouting as she went, "Lexi, your punk is here. And if you're not down soon, I'm taking him to the club without you."

"Shut up Tori," James heard Lexi's voice call then laugh, "He's mine!"

Seconds later Lexi came down the stair to the front landing. James' eye grew to the size of saucers. Lexi was gorgeous. Simple, yet elegant, her small black dress, was accompanied perfectly by a simple set of silver earrings. Barefoot, she slipped her feet into a pair of black heels before threading her arm between James' and his side. "Shall we?" James asked mock gallantly, "My noble steed awaits." They both laughed as he motioned to his old, yet well running ground car.

"Of course dah-ling." Lexi agreed, throwing on an English accent for exaggeration.

Arm in arm, the couple paraded their way down to James' car, before driving off.

Hours later, James arrived back home. Smiling with content, he loosened his tie, and began to unbutton his shirt. He pressed the button on the answering machine and listened to the three new messages, all from Mr. Kyrgos. "James, just calling to remind you, tomorrow you need to be at the hotel by noon, thanks, by."

"James, this is Professor Kyrgos calling, don't forget to bring your project by the shop tomorrow before you head over to the hotel for 12 o'clock noon. Bye."

"Hi, James, Prf Kyrgos calling again. Please remember to drop off your project, and get to the hotel on time please. Thanks, bye."

James laughed to himself. Would Kyrgos ever be cured of his nerves? Probably not. Throwing off the remainder of his clothes save his boxers, James fell into bed dreaming once again of room service and Jacuzzis.

The next morning, as Mr. Kyrgos had requested numerous times, James took the helmet by the workshop, and checked into his room at the Harkton promptly at 11:02. Ironically, the hotel wasn't as exciting as James had imagined. Though everything was beyond state of the art, and most commodities had been met at least seven times, it was all lost on James' simple mind. The only real excitement James found was that he was allowed to dismantle stuff without having to pay for it. Two hair dryers and a massaging showerhead later, James walked across the street to the convention. Though his exhibition hadn't been set up yet, he wandered freely among the other kiosks, looking and learning. Nothing came to him as particularly interesting, and before long, James found himself bored in Corneria's largest Aeronautics exhibition. Fortunately, James' sense of time wasn't accurate to reality, and when he looked at his watch, it was already seven in the evening.

As he exited the exhibition, stomach rumbling, James stopped momentarily. Scanning 360 degrees, he slowly took in his surroundings. Flashing signs, billboards, and the blare of horns filled his senses. Grimacing with discontent, James was quickly reminded of his dislike for such a large city. As he walked across the street to his hotel, he thought back to the days he had spent as a child, growing up in a small town on the outskirts of Corneria City. He could nearly smell the manure of the pastures before an extraordinarily loud honk woke him from trance. Glancing to his right, James saw a massive truck bearing down on him. Dodging swiftly off the crowded street, James silently thanked the instant road rage of the trucker for saving his life.

Tired from walking all day, general boredom, and mainly because he wanted to sleep in the ridiculously comfortable looking bed, James went to bed early, finding peace deep within the downy softness of the blankets.

----------------

Shoot. I hate myself. I just wrote 1800 words, and didn't even get to the good part. Even still this is a longish chapter, for this story at least. So, I'll leave it at this. Dating Lexi, ACCPAC thinger the next day, and a comfy hotel room.

Sorry, I think it is kinda lame too. But it is 1:25 in the morning, and if I don't end the chapter now, I'll never get back to finish it.

Aight, that's it.

Out, and off, for probably far too long.

Wesley Antion


End file.
